31 Posts in 31 Days

Normally, Fridays are Best of the Blogs day around here. But today, please allow me a moment to interrupt our regularly scheduled programming...

Today is June 1, which means that the Blogathon -- the 31-day blogging challenging I undertook during the month of May -- is officially over.

It's not easy to keep your blogging mojo going for 31 days, but I learned this: It's a lot easier to keep your mojo up when you blog on a regular basis. Before, I struggled to post once a week. Now, putting a blog post up more days than not is almost second nature.

I also learned the value of putting yourself out there. Because of the Blogathon, I connected with other people who are concerned about the welfare of boys. I virtually met and interviewed Crystal Smith, author of The Achilles Effect. My blog has been featured in The Boys Initiative newsletter, and I've been invited to contribute a blog post to their brand-new blog, Attention Must Be Paid. (Head over and check out their stuff -- and don't worry, I'll post a link as soon as my Boys Initiative post goes live.)

All of that might sounds like a lot of self-promotion, but it's really not. As a mom of boys, I'm truly concerned about the well-being of boys everywhere, yet there is only so much I can do on my own. When I connect with others who share my concerns, we generate a power and synergy that has the potential to create changes.

My goal is to add an on-the-ground, in-the-trenches voice to the discussions and debates about boys. Academic and research-based perspectives certainly have value, but I think it's absolutely crucial to understand what's happening in boys' lives on a day-to-day basis. It's important, I think, to listen to the boys themselves, and to the parents who are working to support their sons as they navigate a world that is often less-than-friendly to boys' needs and instincts. It's important to share our challenges, as well as our success stories, and to encourage one another as we work to raise hardworking, respectful and emotionally intelligent men.

So thank you for joining me. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and opinions, and thanks for sharing my blog posts across the Internet. I look forward to continuing the conversation!